


Felicity sprains her ankle

by Ficbreatheagain



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Drabble, Fluff, Humor, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-21
Updated: 2015-03-21
Packaged: 2018-02-19 00:05:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2366924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ficbreatheagain/pseuds/Ficbreatheagain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One second, Felicity is watching Oliver train on the salmon ladder and the next, she's tumbling down the Foundry's stairs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Felicity sprains her ankle

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt : my best friend gave me the best idea ever "Felicity sprains her ankle"
> 
> I'm quite proud of this so I hope you'll like it !  
> English isn't my native langage so, let me know if you spot any mistakes !
> 
> Comments, kudos, and all are GREATLY appreciated !
> 
> I NEED A BETA ! MESSAGE ME IF YOU'RE INTERESTED !

Felicity was not particularly clumsy, except when it came to words. As a girl, she used to do gymnastics and she had always loved the asymmetric bars (she still practiced sometimes, on the salmon ladder, when no one was around) so she has absolutely no idea what made her tumble down the stairs. Sure, she was wearing high heels that were really uncomfortable but she was a woman and women learned pretty early on how to deal with sore feet and blisters (ew!). Oliver was shirtless and she wasn't focused on where she was putting her feet (who could blame her ? Oliver's abs were on display right in front of her !) and she realizes way too late that she's falling. Thankfully, she had almost reached the ground and she manages to somehow break her fall, putting her hands on either sides of her so that she would avoid slamming her head on the hard concrete of the Foundry (that wouldn't have been pretty).  
Her boys are next to her in a second and by the time Felicity comprehends what had just happened, Oliver has already taken off her damn shoes.  
"I'm fine, guys, she reassures them with an embarassed smile. I'll probably have a massive bruise on my butt but it's not like anyone's gonna see it... I mean that I don't have a boyfriend right now so there's no reason for... Ow ! That hurts !" Felicity yells in pain as Oliver gently touch her left ankle.  
She glares at him for not warning her and ignores Diggle's amused smile at her rambling. The bodyguard takes a look as well, because he's just as protective as Oliver, although in a very different manner, and rummages through the drug cupboard for some cream to reduce the swelling and a bandage. It stings a little so she takes some painkillers as well as Diggle puts a brace on her ankle and hands her some crutches.  
"It's not broken but you're gonna have to avoid outting any weight on it for a good week. It's pretty badly sprained", explains Oliver.  
"It feels like electricity is running through my foot, for once at least, it's not because of Oliver. Oh god, I did not just say that..."  
Diggle tries to turn his chuckle into a cough and Oliver rolls his eyes, choosing to ignore her last comment.  
"Seriously, I help vigilantes on a daily basis and this is how I get injured ?"  
"You did take a bullet for Sara though", Dig reminds her.  
"Yeah, but I can't brag about a sprained ankle, can I ? Not that I bragged about being shot at because of, you know, the whole secret hero thing but you know what I mean. It's so embarassing ! I think I'll go home now and try to forget that horrifying and pathetic moment. Some mint chocolate ice cream might help."  
"I'll take you home. You'll be okay without me, Oliver ?"  
"I'll go on patrol. Roy's upstairs, I'll take him with me for back-up."  
"Alright, see you tomorrow then."  
"Good night, Oliver."  
She's halfway up the stairs (with Dig's help of course) when Oliver calls her :  
"Felicity ? You couldn't be pathetic if you tried."

 

Diggle drops her off in front of her building and insists on helping her at least into the lobby, which she can't refuse because he cares about her and he means well.  
"You need some help getting to your apartment ?" he asks.  
"I'll take the lift, don't worry I'll be fine. Go home to Lyla and the baby, they need you more than I do", Felicity smiles.  
He nods, wishes her a good night (it's barely ten o'clock, she's pretty sure none of them went home that early in months) and she waves as the limo disappear from her view. Felicity checks her mail, groans when she sees one more bill to add to the piles that's waiting for her on her kitchen counter. She quickly returns to her bubbly personality as she talks for a while with the old lady who's been living in the ground floor for the last ten years, ever since her loving husband passed away. Felicity had always liked Mrs Darden, she was nice and funny, always telling stories of how things used to be back in her time or how it was like living in the thirties, a decade Felicity had always found fascinating.  
They've been gossiping for the last fifteen minutes when the phone ring and Mrs Darden bids her goodbye to pick up the phone and Felicity turns around to face the elevator. She presses the button and, after a few seconds, realizes that something is wrong. There is, in fact, a printed sheet of paper (that definitely wasn't there this morning when Felicity had left for work) that explicitly inform the occupants of the building that the elevator is out of order and wouldn't be fixed before next week.  
"You have got to be kidding me ! Tonight of all nights !"  
For a second, she considers calling Dig but he's probably already home to his family and she doesn't want to bother him as she knows how hard it must be to juggle with Lyla, the baby, his freelance security job and his very dangerous night activities. She tries Roy's cellphone but he's not picking up so she guesses he's at home, playing video games (he had tried to do it once in the lair and Felicity had almost killed him for using her babies). She could probably take her chance at climbing up the stairs with her crutches but as it turns out, a sprained ankle is really that painful and she can't risk putting her weight on it, at the risk of doing more harm than good. That leaves her with only one solution and she works up the courage to dial the number after a good five minutes of overthinking it.  
"Felicity ? Is everything alright ?" Oliver says, his voice filled with worry.  
Felicity hates that she knows him so well sometimes. She's always been able to see past the lies and the bullshits but her heart would clench everytime she'd see that worried, painful look in his eyes. Ever since their first (and last) date that had gone so terribly wrong a few months ago, things between them had been a little tense. Oliver was still protective, he still asked for her help and she was willingly working for him in the lair but the touching was almost gone and she missed it more than she cared to admit. She missed being his girl and she missed knowing that she meant more to him than a friend. Of course, she doubted his feelings had changed (hers hadn't) but they were back to being friends and partners and she wanted so much more. Part of her understood where he was coming from : he had lost too much and wasn't willing to risk it but she couldn't help but loathe the fact that they were both knowingly walking away from eachother, putting a distance between them in fear of what could happen. Felicity had never been a big fan of “what ifs” anyway.  
"Is it a bad time ? Are you patrolling right now ? I can call later, that's fine."  
"Felicity, what's going on ?"  
"It's nothing really, you're gonna think it's stupid... It's just that I'm at home right now, well more like in the hallway but that's not the point. Actually, it kind of is because I live on the second floor and the elevator's not working and I can't ask anyone in the building cause there's only Mrs Darden on the ground floor and she's 86 so she can't really help me out and I figured, well, Oliver could save a damsel in distress and be my knight in shining armor. Oh, wow, we could totally be in a fairytale remake movie. Not that you're a prince and I'm princess, although you are a Queen but..."  
"I'll be there in 10", he says, clearly amused.  
She frowns, it takes 20 minutes to make the trip from Verdant to her house and even on his motorcycle, Oliver can't possibly drive that fast.  
"You're already on your way, aren't you ?"  
"I left as soon as I saw your name come up on the screen."

 

Oliver parks his bike next to her Mini (it was indeed a good thing that Diggle had picked up that morning, on his way to Oliver's apartment) and her eyes widens as she takes in the man in front of her. He was wearing dark jeans and his brown leather jacket, and she could see the white tee shirt underneath it. She was definitely not used to see him dressed that casually but hell, he looked great in everything. In another life, he could have been a model and he would've put David Beckham to shame with that body. The man was the very definition of eye-candy and Oliver knew it.  
"You look pretty good yourself", he says with a smile.  
"I said that out loud, didn't I ?"  
Her cheeks reddens but he's already by her side and trying to figure out how to get her to the second floor without making it worse for her ankle. He looks at her for a second and bends to pick her up like a bridal style.  
"Hang on to me tight", he says maliciously.  
"This is not the situation I imagined you saying this but I won't complain. But you should really put me down cause my apartment is at the second floor and I'm pretty heavy."  
"Felicity, you're light as a feather and there's no way I'd let you use the stairs when I'm the reason you hurt yourself in the first place."  
"Oh hell no, you're not gonna blame yourself for that ! I fell down the stairs, it could've happened anywhere and it was my fault since I was too busy looking at you to watch where I was going !"  
"Oh, really ? So you were checking me out ?" he says with an amused smile as she realizes what she'd just said.  
"Let's not answer that."  
They're in front of her door in no time and she almost sighs in deception as he gently let her down. Being in Oliver's arms feels safe and home, but she knows he's not ready for that yet (and she's not sure he'll ever be) so she fumbles through her bag to find her keys and opens the door.

Her apartment is quite small according to the Queen's standards but Oliver likes it instantly. The mansion, in which he had grown up and what had been home to him, had felt too big, too empty, too dark when he had come back from the island. There were too many rooms, too many doors and windows and his instinct had prevented him from feeling like he belonged there. He had been too used to fight for his life, to watch his every movement, to be aware of his surroundings for the mansion to feel safe. Felicity's place, on the contrary, is homey and cheerful. The couch looks comfy with all those purple and grey cushions and there's a pile of magazines on the coffee table next to a brand new laptop. Felicity takes off her panda flats (thankfully, she always had a pair in the lair and in her office at QC in case she'd break a heel) and puts her bag on the white console along with her keys.  
"Make yourself comfortable", she says as she turns on the TV.  
He's not surprised to see Felicity owns a Nintendo and a Playstation and he can almost imagine her playing Mario Kart. He also spots a Wii (he's not really familiar with it but he'd seen an advert on TV one day and it looked fun) and he takes a mental note to ask her later to show him how it works. Oliver does, however, raise an eyebrow at the impressive collection of DVDs and Cds on either side of the television.  
"I didn't know you had that many albums", he says.  
"Oh, you haven't seen anything", she smiles as she takes a look around the room to make sure nothing's embarrassing has been left on the floor. "All my vinyls are behind you, on the shelves."  
He turns around and sure enough, there's a wooden bookcase, next to the dining table, full of books and vinyls records. Oliver's fingers brushes against them and, curious to know more about his friend, pry into her music collection. He recognizes some names from before the island : Fall Out Boy, Avril Lavigne and Carrie Underwood (he vividly remembers Thea singing her songs after the blonde's victory on some music competition) and some he's never heard of : 30 Seconds To Mars, Ed Sheeran and so on. He can't help but smile as he takes in the cover of a very famous album of Queen.  
"I also have a slight obsession with Selena Gomez these days, you can't blame me, her songs are catchy and fun to dance to... and you probably don't even know who she is. Never mind, I'll let you listen to my Ipod and catch up on what you missed. You hungry ? I haven't eaten anything and it's almost eleven. I have some chicken curry leftovers in the fridge."  
She gets up from the couch and is about to garb her clutches when Oliver stops her.  
"Get some rest, I'll do it. I might have spent five years on an island but I learned how to use a microwave since then."  
"And he jokes ! What have you done to the broody Oliver ?"  
"Thought I'll change things up a bit today."  
It's weird to see Oliver so at ease in her apartment and Felicity would be lying if she said she didn't like it. He was always so tense and serious, it was great to see him a little bit more relaxed. Seeing Oliver rumaging through her fridge and her kitchen drawers makes her heart beat faster. She's smiling when he comes back with two plates of delicious indian food to eat in front of Jimmy Kimmel's interview with one of her favorite actor, that she had recorded earlier that week because she didn't want to miss it. Oliver has no idea who that guy is but Felicity's hung upon his every word and he loves seeing her like this.

After dinner, they watch a movie (Felicity knows Oliver won't sleep anyway, so why not introduce him to her favorite film : The Avengers!) and she doesn't bat an eye when her friend takes off his shoes and sit closer to her that he ever had. They don't talk much, unless Felicity feels the need to explain a scene or yell at one of the characters and it makes Oliver smile. He hadn't had many reasons to smile lately and he's not particularly surprised to see Felicity is the one who manages, without even trying to, to make a feel lighter and more normal. After all, she was the first person to truly make him chuckle when he had gotten back from the island.  
Oliver insists on washing the dishes and Felicity complains a bit before going to the bathroom to change into her pajamas. It will take her some time to get used to the crutches but she manages just fine in her apartment and after picking up her night clothes from under her pillow, a habit she had since she was a little girl, she closes the door behind her. Felicity cleans up her face, erasing all trace of make up, even tough she feels a little self-conscious to show herself to Oliver like that. But then, she remembers the long nights she puts on for the Arrow and thinks he's probably seen worse (she tries really hard not to remember her bloody and injured face after the explosion). She takes off her shirt and goes on to do the same with her skirt. It's an automatism, she has the same ritual every night and is not thinking about her ankle when she puts it on the floor and puts her weight on it to get off of her pencil black skirt. She can't suppress the yell of pain and she closes her eyes, tears gathering behing her eyelids.  
The door opens with a thud and Oliver barges in, looking completely panicked and ready to fight.  
"FELICITY !"  
Felicity freezes and, ever so slowly, looks at him.  
"What happened ?!"  
"I forgot I couldn't put my foot down and I was trying to get changed and... oh my god, I'm not wearing anything !" she realizes, her eyes going wide. "I mean, I am, it's just that you've never seen me in my underwear before and this is embarassing ! Could you please close the door ? I'll be ready in a minute."  
Oliver nods and fails at keeping his eyes on Felicity's face before he's outside of the room, mentally kicking himself. He lets out a breath and groans : he needed to get out of here before he made anything rash. Like kiss her. Things were good between them and he didn't want to hurt her again by getting too close. His feelings hadn't changed, of course, but he didn't want to put her in danger more than she already was. If anything happened to her, it would destroy him.  
"Are you okay ?" he asks on the other side of the door.  
"Yeah, it's just a bit of an adjustment, you know ? I never thought about it before but it's actually hard to do a lot of things when you can only use one foot !"

 

Four days later (and let's not even talk about the hundreds of texts, emails and phone calls she had received from Oliver since her injury), Felicity gets up from her couch to open the door to her uninvited visitor. She's not really surprised to see Oliver standing in the hallway, with a shit-eating grin and a really lame excuse.  
"I just wanted to check on you, he explains."  
"Wasn't that what you were doing when you texted me an hour ago ?"  
"I brought wine."  
"Come in, she smiles as she lets him in. We were about to watch a movie."  
She's wearing an old MIT top with some cute pink shorts, her hair tied up into a messy bun and she's still the most beautiful thing he's ever laid eyes on.  
"We ? Who's we ?" he frowns, hoping she wasn't on a date.  
He knew she had been on a few since he had decided that it was better for the both of them to stay friends but he had hated every second of it. Watching her working in the Lair, all dressed up and happy, had reminded him of what he was losing and he had been close to just forget about the dangers just so he could be the one to take her out to dinner.  
It's sunday, Roy's here. We have this thing, you see ?  
Sure enough, the kid is laying on the couch as if he lives there and Oliver's jaw clenches.  
"Yeah, I come over and I kick her ass on Playstation. Or we just hang out."  
"You kicked my ass once, Harper", she corrects. "Once. Anyway, care to join us ?"  
Roy shifts uncomfortably on the couch as Oliver glares at him and Felicity playfully slaps his arm.  
"Stop it with the jealous/Arrow-y look."  
Oliver's not one to take orders from anyone but he's smart enough not to annoy her. Her loud voice is scary and he'd rather be on her good side. He follows her to the kitchen, where she's putting mint chocolate ice creams in three bowls.  
"Roy's been having a hard time since Thea's gone...", she explains. "I think it's good for him to be around people, do something normal, especially after the whole Mirakuru thing. He's a good kid and also a great friend so you should go easy on him."

Felicity ends up sitting between the two men, her feet next to Roy's thighs and they watch the movie with a comfortable and easy silence, even though she can feel Oliver looking at her and not so much at the screen. It's been a long week at QC and they'd been trying to catch some new drug dealer in town, without managing to find him yet and it had taken a toll on her. Walking around in crutches was getting annoying and she couldn't wait to have Diggle take the cast off of her ankle. She tries to stay awake, at least to see her favorite scene, the one where Iron Man does this thing with his suit (she wishes she had Jarvis sometimes) but she's fast asleep long before that, her head on Oliver's shoulder.  
She wakes up a while later because she can feel herself being carried to her bedroom and she knows who it is (it's almost worrying that she's able to recognize his smell, a mix of leather and sweat and cologne. She loves it). He tucks her in and her eyes flutters open when her head gently hits the pillow.  
"You fell asleep. Roy went home", he says.  
She shifts until she's in her favorite position to sleep and is way too tired to overthink what comes out of her mouth next :  
"Please, stay with me ?"  
Felicity can feel him tense and she mumbles :  
"I don't want you to freeze on that roof, looking over me all night long. You'll be more comfortable here."  
He doesn't even try to deny that he'd been, indeed, watching her those past few days, on the roof that gives a perfect view of her apartment, just to make sure she was okay. Part of him knows he's lying to himself and that he was there for very different reasons that had nothing to do with her injured ankle but he relaxes almost instantely. He doesn't have to lie to Felicity, she knows him better than he knows himself most days.  
"Goodnight", he whispers as he settles down next to her.  
She turns around with a small smile, put her head on his shoulder and goes back to sleep. Oliver had always avoided sleeping next to someone, ever since the island, ever since he had almost killed his own mother as she had tried to wake him up but this is Felicity and, that night, the nightmares don't come.

Felicity wakes up to the smell of coffee and finds Oliver in the kitchen, flipping pancakes in yesterday's clothes.  
"A girl could get used to that", she says with a smile.  
He turn around, looking younger and lighter that she'd ever seen him and her heart skips a beat. It feels so right, him making breakfast, Felicity in her cute pajamas, that he stops overthinking his every move and does what he had been dying to do for months. He kisses her.  
"I don't plan on going anywhere", he tells her when they're both slightly out of breath.  
Maybe spraining her ankle was all they needed after all.


End file.
